Maple Crepes

Everyone loves this elegant but easy make-ahead dish. I always serve it with fried apples and sausage, with a little brown sugar tossed in it. It's going to be on my Christmas brunch menu this year. Everyone loves these.


4  eggs
2  cups  milk
1/4  tsp  salt
1  cup  flour


Beat eggs well. Add remaining ingredients an continue beating until all is well incorporated. Let rest for 15 minutes.

You want your crepes to be about 6" in diameter. Use a teflon griddle* or pan to fry them, using no grease at all. Using a scant ¼ cup batter, smooth to create a circle. Fry only on one side until small bubbles appear on the surface. Remove and cool on a terrycloth bath towel.


Put a dollop of maple butter  on each crepe and roll up. Place in an oblong Pyrex baking dish, placing them very close together. Refrigerate or even freeze until ready to bake.


Warm them in a 300 degree oven until warm and bubbly. Serve with more maple butter on the side.


Maple Butter
Use only real butter and real maple syrup.
2  sticks (or more)  butter
Maple syrup to taste, about 1 cup


If you use too much syrup it won't incorporate well into the butter, but it's still very usable. I just add syrup until it's the taste I want. You want a rich maple taste.

*It's important to use a non-stick pan or griddle. They turn out a nice light golden color.

Grandma Leu's Pancakes

If Grandma's making breakfast for you, this is what you have . . . always! 

They are very thin pancakes.

3  tsp  baking powder
1  tsp  baking soda
1  tsp  salt
8  eggs
1  quart  buttermilk (no substitutes)
Flour, as needed

Using a wire whisk, combine eggs, buttermilk, salt, baking powder and soda. Start with 1 cup flour, adding more as needed, just to hold the batter together. The batter should be thin, as are the pancakes.

Grandma fries them in bacon grease, but you can use shortening.

Seasoned Croutons

There are lots of ways to make croutons, ans all of them are better than the store bought ones in a bag. You can use any old white bread for these. In fact, you may want to toss the last few slices in that old loaf of bread into the freezer instead of tossing them out, and make these when you get a good stash. You can play around with the spices to suit your taste.

30  slices  old white bread
1/3  cup  oil
3  Tbs  instant minced onions
3  Tbs  dried parsley
2  tsp  garlic salt
3/4  tsp  ground sage
1/2  tsp  seasoned pepper

For Garlic Croutons:
2  cups  bread cubes
3  Tbs  olive oil
2  cloves  garlic, crushed

Cut bread into 1/2" cubes, removing crusts. In a very large pan, toast cubes in a 300 degree oven, for up to 45 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Remove from oven and cool slightly. Stir in remaining ingredients and store in a dry place.

For garlic croutons, prepare as above, adding the garlic before baking.

Party Popcorn

From my long-time girlfriend, Rose.

1  cup  pecan halves
1  cup  whole blanched almonds
3/4  cup  popcorn
1/2  cup  brown sugar
1/2 cup  butter or margarine
1/2  tsp  salt

Measure and then pop the popcorn. You should have about 12 cups of popped corn.

In a very large roasting pan, spread nuts in a single layer Bake@350 for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until nuts are lightly browned. Remove from oven and add popped corn.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter, sugar, and salt. Stir into popcorn and nuts until coated. Bake 10 minutes, stirring once. Cool in the pan and store in a tightly covered container.

Honey Butter

Delicious on biscuits, cornbread, or pancakes.

1/2  cup  honey
1/2  cup  butter, at room temperature

Beat together until fluffy. Put in a pretty little serving dish and chill, covered, for at least 30 minutes. Serve with warm bread, roll, biscuits, muffins, scones, pancakes . . . you name it.

Maple Syrup Rum Baked Beans

You need to use a large bean pot, or a Dutch-oven type pot because it's hard to get to the beans if the opening is too small, as it's all apples on top (which are delicious!).

4  cups  navy beans, dried  

12  cups  water, cold  

1  teaspoon  soda  

1  pound  bacon, sliced  

1  large  onion  

1  teaspoon  dry mustard  

1  cup  maple syrup  

1  tablespoon  coarse salt  

4  apples, cored, unpeeled  

1  cup  brown sugar  

1/2  cup  butter  

1/2  cup  rum, optional  

   

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cover the beans with 12 cups cold water. Let soak overnight. In the morning pour the whole thing in a large saucepan. Add 1 tsp soda and more cold water to cover the beans, if needed.

Bring to a boil, uncovered, then boil until some of the skins come off when you blow on the beans.

Line a bean pot with some of the bacon, and then pour in the beans along with their water, layering in the rest of the bacon.

Wet the onion with water and roll the onion in dry mustard until all of the mustard sticks to it. Bury it in the middle of the beans. Pour the maple syrup and coarse salt on top.

Bake 4-5 hours in your preheated oven.

In the last hour of cooking, cover the beans with whole apples, placed as close together as possible.

Cream together the sugar and butter, and spread the mixture on top of the apples. This forms a most delicious topping when the beans are baked.

Pour the rum on top just before serving.

Cashew-Macadamia Cookies with White Chocolate and Cranberries

1  cup  (2 sticks) butter, softened
1  cup  brown sugar
1  cup  white sugar
2  eggs
2-1/2  cups   flour
1  tsp  baking soda
1  tsp  baking powder
1/2  tsp  salt
1  cup  white chocolate chunks
1  cup  dried cranberries
1/2  cup  cashew nuts, roughly chopped
1/2  cup  macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 375°.
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugars and beat until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating until well incorporated. Stir in flour mixture by hand, and then add white chocolate, nuts, and cranberries.

Drop by tablespoonful's (flatten them somewhat) onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired. Bake for about 10 minutes, until cookies just begin to brown at edges.


This is BreeAnn's favorite cookie so far.